Lung gunk. It’s that time of year when a simple cold can travel down into our lungs and cause problems, especially if we don’t take the time to rest and recuperate when we get sick. So prevention may be the best treatment, but what if it gets past that point? What to do when things get… well… sticky?

First thing to realize is that mucous is a good thing, but like all good things, it is best in moderation. Normally there is a thin layer of mucous coating our respiratory membranes that not only moistens and soothes the passages, but also acts like flypaper, trapping microbes, dust, pollen and other small particles so they can be brought out of the body, or (more commonly) tipped over the top of the trachea into the digestive tract to get burned up by stomach acid.

Mucous only becomes a problem when there is irritation or infection – the goblet cells produce more to protect the surface cells (epithelium) and to help get rid of the irritant. So the first stage of a respiratory infection or seasonal allergies is a runny drippy nose. After a few days of this, the goblet cells start to tire and “dry out” so that the drippy nose becomes the plugged up nose.

Now mucous doesn’t kill microbes, it just traps them so they can be disposed of. So if the body can’t effectively clear the mucous out, it can become a breeding ground for microbes. I see this happen often in people with chronic food allergies or sensitivities that then leads to chronic bronchitis or chronic sinusitis.

Often, people with chronic stuffy noses need to change their diet or lessen the amount of dairy they’re eating before even starting with herbs and supplements. The saying in Chinese Medicine is “Digestion (“the Spleen”) produces Dampness and the Lungs store Dampness.”

Which brings us to your classic winter-time bronchitis complete with thick mucous in the bronchioles, the branching tubes that bring air deep into the lungs for oxygen exchange. As should be clear by now, it’s not enough to just use herbs that kill bacteria, it is also necessary to change the underlying condition by getting rid of the excess fluid clogging things up and creating a home for infection.

So, a good question to ask is – Is the cough productive? Sometimes you want to stimulate expectoration to clear thick phlegm, sometimes you want to moisten and “water down” the mucous to make for easier passage, and sometimes you just want to stop the coughing. After all, coughing takes energy and can keep us from sleeping, our best time to heal.